As Pam Bondi prepares for confirmation as attorney general, she is working with a top lawyer from President-elect Donald Trump’s first term: Chad Mizelle, formerly acting general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security.

Mizelle has been in meetings with Bondi in Florida as she prepares to lead the Justice Department, according to a person with knowledge of the preparations. At the beginning of Trump’s first term, he was counsel to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Then, after a White House stint, he became a senior official at DHS. As the acting general counsel, he helped craft and defend Trump’s border security and deportation initiatives.

Mizelle is a longtime ally of Stephen Miller, Trump’s hawkish immigration adviser who has long pushed for dramatically heightened immigration enforcement. Trump announced last month that Miller will serve as deputy chief of staff for policy in his incoming White House.

The Justice Department will be instrumental in Trump’s effort to deliver on his promise of mass deportation. It houses the nation’s heavily backlogged immigration courts, which adjudicate immigrants’ appeals to stay in the country. And a significant portion of its criminal cases involve immigration-related crimes.

In 2017, during Mizelle’s time at DOJ, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed federal prosecutors to prioritize cases that could deter illegal immigration. The percentage of defendants charged with immigration crimes surged — cresting at more than one-third of defendants, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Mizelle is general counsel for Affinity Partners, the investment firm helmed by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. And like Bondi, he has Florida roots: Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, his wife, is a Trump-appointed federal judge in Tampa.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s bid for the top Democratic Oversight Committee job could give her one of the most visible perches in Congress as the party tries to fight President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda.

In her Friday letter to Democratic colleagues, the 35-year-old progressive sketched out her vision for the panel’s Democrats as they brace for another term in the political wilderness — the minority in both chambers of Congress. She’ll be running against Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who launched his bid earlier this week.

“We must balance our focus on the incoming president’s corrosive actions and corruption with a tangible fight to make life easier for America’s working class,” she wrote. “I know firsthand how the Majority uses their chaos to confuse, disorient, and distract the public’s attention away from their disastrous agenda. We cannot and will not allow that to happen. I will lead by example by always keeping the lives of everyday Americans at the center of our work.”

The Oversight Committee is home to some of the House’s biggest partisan fights, with both parties typically stocking the panel with fighters who will target their political enemies. Ocasio-Cortez first joined Congress during the latter half of Trump’s first presidential term and gained notoriety for her pointed questioning of committee witnesses and sparring with Trump officials.

Under the GOP majority, the panel was at the center of some of Republicans’ most-high profile, and most-criticized, investigations, including a monthslong impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden that focused largely on the business deals of his family members. And next Congress it will be in the driver’s seat as Republicans jockey to coordinate with Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency to cut federal spending.

In the minority, Democrats have limited tools at their disposal to block Republican actions on the committee. While the GOP will have the ability to call witnesses and subpoena documents, Democrats won’t have much in the way of real power. They can slow things down with procedural roadblocks, but their most effective tool aligns with one of Ocasio-Cortez’s strengths: earning media attention by blasting the majority party’s antics.

Current Oversight ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), for example, has focused on the business deals of Trump’s family members as a counterpoint to the GOP’s impeachment inquiry. And Ocasio-Cortez, in her letter, said Democrats need to “focus on the Committee’s strong history of both holding administrations accountable and taking on the economic precarity and inequality that is challenging the American way of life.”

Ocasio-Cortez herself has a prominent following from younger, diverse people and is known to use her major influence on social media to explain her stances on policy and political issues. She has a specific style and effectiveness at hearings, resulting in key moments that have repeatedly gone viral. Her ability to create high-profile moments in hearings has even won begrudging admiration from some Republicans, who believe she’s effective even as they strongly disagree with most of her ideological stances.

But it’s not the American electorate she needs to win over to get the top Democratic spot on Oversight. House Democrats’ powerful Steering and Policy Committee, which handles panel assignments, is expected to start considering contested committee slots in two weeks. The panel will hold secret ballots to recommend leaders to the full caucus, which will then officially vote on who will lead the party on panels.

Both Ocasio-Cortez and Connolly have been quietly canvassing their fellow lawmakers as they’ve launched their bids. The full Steering and Policy Committee hasn’t yet been named. Ocasio-Cortez could likely count on influential blocs of support in the party, like members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Progressive Caucus, while Connolly could get backing from senior members of the caucus across various factions.

Connolly, in his own letter to colleagues earlier this week, leaned into his history on the committee, willingness to work with and listen to other members and ability to battle with Trump as he works to lock down votes ahead of the Steering meeting.

“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is a beat I know well, and right now we need an expert who can parry the worst Republican attacks on our institutions and deliver reform where it is necessary and needed,” he wrote.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez jumped into the race to be the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, according to a letter she sent to her colleagues Friday.

“I write to you today to seek your support to serve as Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability in the 119th Congress,” she wrote.

The New York Democrat will face Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia to succeed Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, who’s likely to become the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. Democrats increasingly believe she’s entering the race with a sizable bloc of support and could win the Steering and Policy Committee recommendation and the full caucus election. But it’s not in the bag yet — Connolly’s camp is projecting confidence as well.

The 35-year-old outspoken progressive has often bucked party leaders and came to Congress by ousting a powerful committee chair herself. Since then, she’s learned to play the inside track in the Democratic Caucus, working with colleagues and leadership and stumping for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. She’s served as the vice-ranking member of the Oversight Committee this Congress under Raskin, whom she is close to.

House Democrats are expected to start the process of selecting new committee leaders and members next week.

Recommendations on committee heads will be made by the Steering and Policy Committee, a powerful and under-the-radar panel that is set to considerexclusive committee appointments like the Ways and Means panel next week, and then the remaining committees the week after. The second batch includes multiple contested top Democratic spots.

The steering panel will first hold a secret ballot vote to recommend a committee leader, then the full caucus will vote on the leadership slot.

House Republican leadership met on Friday morning to discuss outstanding disagreements on how to kick off the reconciliation process, according to two senior Republicans, granted anonymity to share the private deliberations.

House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) was in Speaker Mike Johnson’s office for at least an hour around Friday morning’s vote series. Johnson’s senior policy adviser, Derek Theurer, who was previously chief tax counsel for the Ways and Means committee, was seen exiting the speaker’s office during that period.

According to people who participated in the conversation, the focus of the discussion was how to address disagreements between Smith and incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on how to kick off the reconciliation process, which would allow Republicans to pass trillions of dollars of tax cut extensions without Democratic support.

Thune has said he would like to pass a non-tax reconciliation bill, including energy and defense policies, within the first 30 days of President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration. Smith has pushed back on that idea, arguing that Republicans need to include everything in one big reconciliation bill to pass it through the House’s slim majority.

“The other piece that people are underestimating is we are very similarly situated in the House like the Senate in past reconciliations,” said House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), who was also seen in the speaker’s office Friday morning. “Now they have a bigger margin than we do. So it’s going to be a bigger challenge for us to get to a magic number to pass it with only a two-seat margin. And the more policies you put into the mix, the more you can attract different constituencies.”

When asked whether the Ways and Means committee and Senate Republicans were close to ironing out their differences, committee member David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) shook his head. “That dance is going to go on for quite a while,” he said.

The high-stakes battle on Capitol Hill over Pete Hegseth’s quest to lead the Defense Department is causing no shortage of angst in the Pentagon, where officials are watching nervously to find out who their next boss will be.

Hegseth, a former Fox News host and Army veteran, is being dogged by claims involving alleged sexual assault and public drunkenness and has spent the week meeting with Republican senators to ensure he has the votes to pass, even though there are serious doubts he has the numbers.

“The biggest thing I’m picking up is a level of discomfort and uncertainty. People want to know who their leadership is going to be and what they’re going to be asked to do, these are professionals who can put personal feelings aside,” said one Pentagon official, who like others was granted anonymity to speak candidly on a sensitive subject.

The official also noted that the Trump team’s delay in signing an agreement with the White House means the Pentagon and other agencies are in a holding pattern until transition officials are in place.

“The facts that Hegseth’s past has jeopardized his nomination and that the transition team still isn’t in the building will just make it harder for the incoming administration to lead DOD,” the official said.

A DOD spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

President-elect Donald Trump is, for now, standing by his pick, posting on social media Friday morning that “Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!”

“His support is strong and deep, much more so than the Fake News would have you believe,” Trump posted.

Hegseth is already a polarizing figure, and officials at the Pentagon say there’s no unified response to the specter of him taking over the department. Hegseth is an outspoken opponent of Biden-era policies on diversity, equity and inclusion and he has promised, as has Trump, to role back the initiatives immediately.

But Hegseth has also said women should not be deployed inside combat units.

“I think it’s split on Hegseth,” a second Pentagon official said. “Some are really happy he’s going after the … DEI stuff and focusing on lethality, but his comments on women — and some of his alleged conduct — are troublesome to many.”

The reaction isn’t as mixed about Trump’s pick for the Pentagon’s No. 2 job, private equity executive Stephen Feinberg. The secretive billionaire financier with no experience in the agency has a long track record in the defense industrial world.

“People are very excited for Feinberg,” the second official said.

Despite all the opinions on Hegseth, officials are still speaking in hushed tones about the nomination, especially since Hegseth has said Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown and other top leaders should be fired.

“I think everyone is trying not to talk about it for fear of being the one getting caught saying anything,” a third Pentagon official said.

As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez prepares to jump into the race to be the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, she’s testing how far her colleagues are willing to go as they shake up their leadership structure.

She told reporters Friday that an announcement was coming “soon” and to keep an eye on her social media.

Her official launch would mean challenging Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va), who has already announced he wants to run as the top Democrat of the committee after Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who currently occupies the spot, tossed his hat in for House Judiciary ranking member.

“We talked the other day, and [Ocasio-Cortez] indicated she was headed that way,” about running against him, said Connolly. “And I said: ‘Great, we’ll run an honorable race, a civil race and we’ll be friends at the beginning and at the end.’”

The 35-year-old outspoken progressive has long been critical of party leaders and doesn’t always align with the rest of her party. But she’s learned to play the inside track in the Democratic Caucus, working with colleagues and leadership more rather than always using her proverbial megaphone. Raskin named her the vice ranking member of the Oversight Committee earlier this Congress.

Her likely entry into the race is the latest bullet point as Democrats make sweeping changes to the aging leadership of their committees. Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona is stepping aside as the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York ended his bid to continue leading Judiciary Committee Democrats and endorsed Raskin, and Rep. David Scott of Georgia is facing tough challenges to keep his job as the top Agriculture Committee Democrat.

Here’s what we’re watching in transition world today:

 🗓️ What we’re watching

• President-elect Donald Trump is continuing to back Pete Hegseth, his embattled pick for Defense secretary. “His support is strong and deep, much more so than the Fake News would have you believe,” Trump said Friday morning on Truth Social. 
• Trump’s defense of Hegseth is notable, given the former Fox News host said on Thursday that he wouldn’t drop out “as long as Donald Trump wants me in this fight.” 

👀 What’s Trump up to?

• No public plans today, but Trump is going to the Army-Navy football game on Dec. 14.

🚨What’s up with the nominees?

• The Heritage Foundation is spending $1 million to pressure senators to back Hegseth, the Associated Press reports. 

📝ICYMI: Here are the latest Trump administration picks

• Former GOP Sen. David Perdue is Trump’s choice for ambassador to China.
• Trump tapped Rodney Scott as his top choice for commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. 
• Caleb Vitello, the assistant director of the Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was picked to serve as acting director of ICE. 
• Venture capitalist David Sacks will be a “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar.”

President Donald Trump isn’t moving on from embattled pick for Defense secretary Pete Hegseth yet, calling the former Fox News personality’s support “strong and deep” in a post to his social media site Friday morning.

“Pete Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep, much more so than the Fake News would have you believe,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “He was a great student – Princeton/Harvard educated – with a Military state of mind. He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense Defense, one who leads with charisma and skill. Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!”

Hegseth has spent the week meeting with GOP senators and trying to shore up support for his nomination as allegations of sexual assault, financial mismanagement and alcohol abuse have sowed doubt about his ability to be confirmed. He’s denied any wrongdoing.

Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, told POLITICO that the secretary designate is looking forward to the FBI’s background check, because it will “actually do a full investigation, look at everything from both sides, and not just take anonymous uncorroborated statements and run with them.”

Allies of Hegseth, including his mother, have gone on a media blitz to defend the former Fox News host. And the Heritage Foundation is spending $1 million to pressure senators to confirm him.

While he’s still backing Hegseth publicly, Trump is also considering other options to lead the Pentagon, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But as long as Trump is still behind him, Hegseth has said he will continue on.

“As long as Donald Trump wants me in this fight, I’m going to be standing right here in this fight,” Hegseth said Thursday.

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday night announced a new round of nominees and appointments to tackle his aggressive immigration and homeland security agenda.

Trump said he was nominating Rodney Scott as commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. Scott served for almost three decades in the Border Patrol, and as the chief of the agency during the last year of the Trump administration and beginning of the Biden administration. He helped implement Trump’s Remain in Mexico Policy, Title 42 and Safe Third Country agreements.

Trump also announced he was tapping Caleb Vitello, who’s currently the assistant director of the Office of Firearms and Tactical Programs in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to serve as acting director of ICE.

And the president-elect picked Tony Salisbury, who serves as the special agent in charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Miami, to serve as the deputy homeland security adviser on the White House Homeland Security Council. Brandon Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents more than 17,000 Border Patrol Agents and support staff, was also announced as Trump’s nominee to be ambassador to Chile.

Immigration was Trump’s top priority on the campaign trail, and in his first 100 days he plans to begin the process of deporting hundreds of thousands of people and to roll back President Joe Biden’s immigration policies. Outside allies expect the administration’s immigration policy, similar to Trump’s first term, to be run out of the White House by incoming Border Czar Tom Homan and Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser.